So, looks like we’re going to try to make this a reader mail week. Please continue to send us questions! And we will do our best to answer them as quickly as we can. Which, honestly, is going to be slower than we would like – if something is urgent, let us know! We will try to help! Send us more here, and we promise to slow down on our use of exclamation points.
Here we go! Er. Here we go.
my reader question is about suit alternatives. I don’t want to buy one, but I
need something stylish/formidable (equal emphasis) if I get (cross
fingers) to the interview stage for a fellowship. suggestions? in my
dream world I’d wear slouchy tuxedo pants with…. ? well, something
inappropriately sparkly. and that clearly shouldn’t happen. so
please help, I’m socking away pennies in hopes that I get the interview.
xo,
l.
Ooh, this is kind of a tough question. We think it depends on the field. If you’re going for a creative field, we absolutely think that a dress and heels can be quite fine – we’d recommend something classic, like a DVF wrap dress. Yes, the black is boring – but if you add a fun accessory or two, it livens it up. Plus, it’s a job interview, not a date. If you’re established in your field, and your field is super creative (writing, fashion, etc) we would definitely not wear a solid black dress – or if we did, we would wear it with blackout tights and our bright yellow peep-toe shoes. But since you ask for a suit alternative, we are thinking that super creative is not an option.
Truth be told, we think a suit is a great piece to have in the wardrobe. We have one – we do. It’s a black Calvin Klein number. We wore it for one interview, for one job, that we did not get. We got it at a discount store, and we’d recommend that route to anyone. We do tend to be conservative in our professional interview attire choices, though, so we’d like everyone else to chime in!
-LB
what about a black pencil skirt with a crisp blouse? you could wear a fun color for the blouse and still look really pulled together and impressive.
skirt suit all the way! spend the money, get it tailored, and it will look fab, not frumpy.
Get a non-black suit, like gray or brown. Much more versitle, and you can wear the individual pieces to a wide variety of events. Ann Taylor sells three piece suits (jacket, pants and a skirt), making them even more versitile.
Ann Taylor Loft has suiting separates that are much more affordable than regular Ann Taylor. When I had to go out interviewing, I got a nice black pencil skirt from there (which I wear all the time to places I don’t work) and a charcoal colored 3/4 sleeve suiting jacket (which I wear with jeans all the time).
As far as a dress shirt, I would hit up Target…they are actually structured really well!
But the best piece of advice I can offer is this: Wear a suit, or something as close as possible to a suit as you can. In this economy, businesses that are hiring can have anyone they want, and appearance can be a HUGE factor.
You don’t want them to wonder why you couldn’t put the effort in to business professional wear for at least the interview when even Walmart sells suits. I am an artist (who is usually inappropriate as hell) whose day job is in hedge funds and the first piece of feedback I got from my interview there was that I present myself well.
Forgo being cute and just present yourself professionally
GOOD LUCK!!!
hi, it’s the letter writer – many warm thank yous for the suggestions! you’re all making me think about approaching the problem more professionally and traditionally, when I’d been teetering toward something less .. systematized. I’m glad I’m plotting and scheming now, it’ll clearly require a bit of time to find something right, and here’s to being optimistic I get to the interview stage!